


Beautiful Contradiction

by Katiegirl901



Category: NCIS
Genre: Christmas, F/M, Merry Christmas Briony, Romance, Slibbs Santa Fic Exchange
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:00:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21972478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katiegirl901/pseuds/Katiegirl901
Summary: She was the sand and the sun, warm and delicate with the ability to be destructive and harsh when she needed to be. She was a kind word and a gentle voice when you needed it but could be strong and firm when kindness wasn’t working.
Relationships: Jethro Gibbs/Jacqueline "Jack" Sloane
Comments: 11
Kudos: 92
Collections: 12 Days of Slibbs





	Beautiful Contradiction

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lilywafiq](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilywafiq/gifts).



> A very Merry Christmas (Happy Holidays) to Briony and thank you for all of the amazing content you contribute to the fandom! For this I used the picture you sent, I had a really hard time deciding because your quote and prompt were also fantastic! For everyone who doesn't know the picture was a beautiful shot of Maria sitting in the desert that really inspired the beginning of this fic and it just spiralled from there.

They were so different. She was the sand and the sun, warm and delicate with the ability to be destructive and harsh when she needed to be. She was a kind word and a gentle voice when you needed it but could be strong and firm when kindness wasn’t working. She was the puzzle piece he didn’t know they had been missing, the part of their family that had been absent for so long.

When he looked at her he saw the warmth of the California sun and was reminded of how that light had been missing from his life until she had shown up. He saw the irony in the fact that the light had arrived amidst the biggest storm of the year. She had blown through his front door and into his life with a gust of wind and rain. And a laugh that had nearly stopped his heart then and there. She had caught his attention immediately and had held it ever since. He wasn’t oblivious to the fact that she had just as much darkness as him, maybe even more in some ways but it was what she did with that darkness... She took it and she spun it into a driving force, she didn’t allow it to consume her but rather accepted it for what it was and forced it to be something better.

She used her pain for good, she supported those around her and had taught him to do the same. She had reminded him that life could be good, that love could be felt even through the fear. She had reminded him what it was like to have a complete family because things just felt right when she was there. He loved his family and he had loved his kids long before Jack had shown up and he would love them long after should she, god forbid, leave. He loved them but there was something about Jack that rounded them out. His kids were too much like him, the things they saw had hardened them to the world, had given them edges where once there had only been hope and some ignorance about the cruelties of the world. Jack rounded out those edges and brought a sense of peacefulness and levelheadedness to their family that had been lacking before.

It was all of those things and more that attracted him to her, it was her looks, her tenacious personality, the way she soothed him and gave their family a different perspective. It was the way she sucked on a lollipop or chewed her pen cap when she was reading, it was the way she silently challenged him with her eyes when they disagreed on something and it was the way she refused to back down to him when she firmly believed she was right. It was the way she was willing to admit when she was wrong and it was in the easy way she put others before herself. It was the way she interacted with Victoria and Johnny and Morgan, the way she challenged Nick but also silently supported him and in the way she was there for Ellie in anyway necessary. It was all of those things that drew him to her like a moth to a flame. It was all of those things that brought him to be standing outside her office on Christmas Eve, a bottle of bourbon in hand and a desire to forget on his mind.

He knocked against the open door and watched as she glanced up from her perch on the couch. Her shoes were kicked off, her legs crossed under her and her laptop open in her lap in a pose that was so typically Jack.

“Hey, Cowboy.”

Her voice was gentle and welcoming but he recognized the guardedness in there as well. She knew he was struggling, hell everyone did. His team had been tiptoeing around him since Phineas’ father had picked him up the day before and even Ziva had made herself scarce around the house as she waited to hear from Tony.

“Jack.” He greeted evenly.

He held up the bottle in a silent offer and she waved him in and motioned for him to close the door. She went about gathering cups for them as he carefully opened the bottle.

“It cost a lot.”

There was no preamble to his statement and it was barely a whisper but he could tell she had heard and understood by the soft look of sadness on her face as she handed him the glasses.

“Was it worth it?”

He thought about the question for a moment and gave a small nod. He knew he had done what needed to be done, not only for his daughter but also for Phineas, nothing good could have come from the situation for the little boy who had so easily stolen his heart.

“Made me reevaluate some things though.” He admitted softly.

Seeing his daughter fight tooth and nail for her daughter and partner had reminded him how precious and fleeting love was. Reminded him how rare it was to find someone who would go to the ends of the earth for you and it had made him realize that he had had that right in front of him for over two years and he had been wasting it.

“Yeah?” She asked quietly

“Know you don’t believe in absolutes but I’ve got a rule... Rule five, you don’t waste good.” He took a sip of the bourbon and allowed it to sooth him as he figured out what to say next. “I’ve been wasting a lot of good... been too scared to be happy and this reminded me that a lot can happen real quick.”

She took a sip of her own bourbon and nodded, waiting for him to continue.

He took a step closer to her and gently took the bourbon out of her hand and placed it on the desk beside them, doing the same with his own glass. He glanced at the elephant painting hanging on the wall and saw her eyes follow his gaze.

“Don’t want there to be an elephant in the room anymore, Jack.”

She dragged her eyes away from the painting and turned to him. He could see the flicker of hope in her eyes but he could also see her determination not to let it get a hold of her lest she be disappointed.

“Wanna stop wasting good.” He added.

She bit her bottom lip and studied him for a moment before nodding, “how’re you going to do that?”

He stepped closer to her and gently cupped her cheek in his hand, they had touched often enough that it wasn’t something new but this gentle touch was certainly the most intimate touch he had bestowed upon her. He tilted his head closer to hers and paused as blue eyes met hazel.

“Tell me to stop.” He needed to give her one last out.

She bit her bottom lip and shook her head in the negative before winding her arms around his neck and leaning up on her tiptoes to gently press her lips against his. His eyes slipped closed as his lips brushed against hers and he had a vision of the sun and the sand, of the rain and thunder and as he wrapped his arms around her waist he couldn’t help but realize how much he loved the woman in his arms. His beautiful contradiction.


End file.
